[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 133 (Thursday, July 12, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38025-38026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13555]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

50 CFR Part 648

[Docket No. 061020273-6321-02]
RIN 0648-XA94


Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Summer Flounder, 
Scup, and Black Sea Bass Fisheries; Adjustments to the 2007 Black Sea 
Bass, and Total Allowable Landings (TAL) and Loligo Squid Initial 
Optimum Yield (IOY)

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Temporary rule; restoration to the 2007 black sea bass TAL and 
Loligo squid IOY.

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SUMMARY: NMFS restores 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of unused research set-aside 
(RSA) to the 2007 black sea bass TAL and 151,235 lb (68.60 mt) of 
unused RSA to the Loligo squid IOY, and makes corresponding adjustments 
to the 2007 black sea bass commercial quota, the 2007 black sea bass 
recreational harvest limit, and the 2007 Loligo squid commercial 
Trimester II and III quotas. The adjustments are intended to return 
unallocated RSA quotas to the respective fisheries.

DATES: Effective July 12, 2007 through December 31, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Perra, Policy Analyst, (978) 281-
9153, fax (978) 281-9135, e-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2006, proposals for research 
projects requested more summer flounder RSA than was available through 
the annual 2007 summer flounder specification process (71 FR 240, 
December 14, 2006), and, therefore, NMFS offered the projects increased 
amounts of Loligo squid and black sea bass RSA, within the amounts 
authorized under the respective fishery management plans (FMPs), to 
offset the summer flounder shortfalls. The respective 2007 FMP 
specifications allotted RSA to the four projects as follows: 389,490 lb 
(176.67 mt) of summer flounder; 1,124,356 lb ( 510 mt) of Loligo squid; 
360,000 lb (163.29 mt) of scup; 150,000 lb (68.04 mt) of black sea 
bass; and 363,677 lb (164.96 mt) of bluefish. Following the 2007 
specification process, NMFS, in January 2007, through emergency 
rulemaking

[[Page 38026]]

(72 FR 12, January 19, 2007), increased the 2007 summer flounder TAL 
from 12.98 million lb (5,887.63 mt) to 17.11 million lb (7711.07 mt). 
However, to insure the timely issuance of grants and exempted fishing 
permits required for the projects, the summer flounder RSA assigned to 
the project grants and specifications was not increased. Therefore, the 
RSA summer flounder amounts under the 2007 specifications remained 
lower than the amounts requested for the projects. The lower than 
expected summer flounder RSA amount resulted in the NOAA Grant Office 
negotiations that increased Loligo squid and black sea bass RSA to the 
projects to compensate for the summer flounder shortfall. However, the 
increases of black sea bass and Loligo squid to the projects did not 
utilize all of the 3 percent RSA allocation assigned to the projects in 
the 2007 specifications. Specifically, in January 2007, NOAA grant 
negotiations altered the projects' allocations of black sea bass and 
Loligo squid to 131,858 lb (59.8 mt) and 973,121 lb (441.4 mt), 
respectively, resulting in 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass and 
151,235 lb (68.56 mt) of Loligo squid no longer being assigned to the 
RSA allocation, or to the commercial or recreational TAL or IOY. These 
remaining unused amounts of 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass and 
151,235 lb (68.56 mt) of Loligo squid are being returned to their 
respective fishing sectors to provide the fisheries the opportunity to 
harvest all available TAL and IOY.
    Framework Adjustment 1 to the Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and 
Butterfish; Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass; and Atlantic 
Bluefish FMPs; and the RSA provisions of the Tilefish FMP implemented 
procedures for setting aside up to 3 percent of the annual TAL or IOY 
to fund research activities for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass, 
Atlantic mackerel, squid, and butterfish. The regulations at 50 CFR 
648.21(g)(5) stipulate that, if a proposal is disapproved by the 
Regional Administrator, or the NOAA Grants Office, or if the allocated 
research quota cannot be utilized by a project, the Regional 
Administrator shall reallocate the unallocated or unused amount of 
research quota to the respective commercial and recreational fisheries 
by publication of a notice in the Federal Register.
    Under procedures in the Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass 
FMP, the resulting unused black sea bass TAL is allocated 49 percent to 
the commercial sector and 51 percent to the recreational sector. 
Therefore, this action restores 18,142 lb (8.23 mt) of black sea bass 
to the 2007 fishery, with 8,890 lb (4.03 mt) provided to the commercial 
sector and 9,252 lb (4.20 mt) provided to the recreational sector. The 
resulting 2007 black sea bass TAL is 4,868,142 lb (2,208.23 mt). The 
new commercial quota is 2,385,390 lb (1,083 mt), and the new 
recreational harvest limit is 2,482,752 lb (1,126.20 mt) (Table 1).

                                          Table 1. Restoration of Black Sea Bass RSA to TAL, by Fishing Sectors
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                                                                    Initial TAL                  Restored Amounts                     New TAL
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                     Fishing Sector                            4,850,000 lb (220 mt)            18,142 lb (8.23 mt)         4,868,142 lb (2,208.23 mt)
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                lb              mt              lb              mt              lb              mt
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                  Commercial TAL                               2,376,500           1,078           8,890           4.032       2,385,390           1,083
                  Recreational TAL                             2,473,500           1,122           9,252           4.197       2,482,752         1,126.2
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    Although 9,252 lb (4.20 mt) of black sea bass are being restored to 
the recreational harvest limit, this action does not alter the existing 
recreational management measures that have been established to ensure 
that the recreational harvest limit is not exceeded.
    The Atlantic Mackerel, Squid, and Butterfish FMP only regulates 
Loligo squid IOY for the commercial sector, and the Loligo squid 
commercial fishing season operates on a trimester allocation scheme. 
The unused amount of 68.56 mt of Loligo squid is thus restored 
proportionally to the 2007 second and third trimesters. The resulting 
IOY is 16,558.56 mt, with the 68.56 mt restored 29.8 percent (20.43 mt) 
to the Trimester II allocation, and 70.2 percent (48.13 mt) to the 
Trimester III allocation. The new Trimester II allocation is 2,823.73 
mt, and the new Trimester III allocation is 6,644.13 mt (Table 2).

               Table 2. Restoration of Loligo squid RSA to IOY by Trimester seasons (metric tons)
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                                                                    Initial IOY      Restored         New IOY
                         2007 Trimesters                              16,490       Amount  68.56     16,558.56
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                  Trimester I (Jan-Apr)                                  7,090.7               0         7,090.7
                  Trimester II (May-Aug)                                 2,803.3           20.43        2,823.73
                  Trimester III (Sep-Dec)                               6,596.00           48.13        6,644.13
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Classification

    This action is required by 50 CFR part 648 and is exempt from 
review under Excutive Order 12866.

    Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.

    Dated: July 6, 2007.
Alan D. Risenhoover,
Director, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. E7-13555 Filed 7-11-07; 8:45 am]
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